A little over a month ago, Anthony "Boots" Martinez finally submitted the signatures of his petition to recall the current Port Loyola area rep, Gilroy Usher.
According to the law, the Governor General was then to pass the petition onto the Chief Elections Officer, who would verify each signature before returning the petition to the GG. This would all need to happen within a month after submission. Well, last Friday completed one month and there has been no word whether the petition was verified.
Martinez says he's been checking, especially since he would have liked for the recall - if there is to be one - to coincide with the March 6th Municipal Elections. And today he says they may need to take the matter to court.
Anthony "Boots" Martinez, Former Port Loyola Area Rep
"The petition was delivered on the 16th of January, 2024. And as the law allows the Governor General to pass it to the Chief Elections Officer forthwith. Upon checking, on Friday, well, from Thursday I called the office of the Governor General and said to the secretary that I believe by law that the answer should be forthcoming by tomorrow, which was the 16th February. Friday morning I called, the Governor General's secretary response was that, let her check. After waiting on the phone for like two minutes she came back and said, no response. Call again about minutes to 3 the afternoon and it was the same thing, no response."
"I am wary about this whole situation because the timing of the delivering of the petition would simply mean that it could catch the 6th of March, the referendum could have been placed on the same day as the City Council Election but nevertheless..."
Reporter:
"Who do you ultimately find responsible for the process stalling?"
Anthony "Boots" Martinez, Former Port Loyola Area Rep
"The Governor General."
Reporter:
"Why do you say that?"
Anthony "Boots" Martinez, Former Port Loyola Area Rep
"Because as the law states the Governor General receives the petition and must forward the petition forthwith to the Chief Elections Officer and the Chief Elections Officer have not more than a month to verify the signature and get back the certificate to the Governor General whether yes or no so the buck in my view stops at the Governor General."
"The next move, we are contemplating on taking the matter to the court to see what recourse is possible because to me there is a direct breach of constitution authority both ways, whether the Chief Elections Officer or the Governor General because you're talking about the livelihood of people. This isn't any laughing matter, and this isn't a playing matter, this is serious business as mandated by law."
